The Stolen Smell

Meet a baker who is so stingy that he wants to charge people just for smelling his baked goods.

The Stolen Smell is a timeless story from Peru, told by Mitch Weiss and Martha Hamilton. This folktale tells the story of a greedy baker who becomes so angered over a neighbor's happiness from smelling the fresh aromas of his bakery that he demands that his neighbor pay him a "smelling fee" for enjoying the delightful smell of baking bread.

The poor neighbor is confused and does not have very much money so the baker takes him to court where the baker learns a very valuable life lesson from a wise judge. Readers will also learn lessons of fairness, sharing and responsibility. Authors, Mitch and Martha explain that the motif of this story - payment for the mell of food with the sound of money - is a common one in world folktale. A Brazilian version can be found in Stories from the Americas by Frank Henius.